The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 154

Their eyes met, but Julian quickly looked away.

"If you need me to, I can stay."

The answer caught Hailey off guard.

It also broke her heart a little.

She offered a tight, embarrassed smile. "I mean, obviously I'm thrilled you're staying. But you're not doing it because you want to, are you? You're just doing it because it's your 'duty' as my fiancé, right?"

Julian didn't say a word.

But the silence was an answer in itself.

As someone who had spent her entire life in the spotlight, pampered and adored, Hailey simply didn't have it in her to beg a man for scraps of affection.

She simply flashed a radiant smile, projecting total confidence.

"Julian, I know for a fact that one day, you're going to fall for me. You'll fall in love with me, and you'll be the one chasing after me."

-

That evening.

Jocelyn received a phone call from Diana Evans.

The moment she picked up, Diana launched into a vicious tirade.

"Where the hell did you go?! I thought you were supposed to be this perfectly devoted daughter? Why aren't you at the hospital?! You just abandoned your father?!"

Jocelyn was halfway through the savory egg custard Maria had prepared for her, but suddenly she lost her appetite.

She gave a careless excuse.

"I had to come back to grab a few things. I'll head over later."

Diana practically sneered through the phone.

"Such a devoted daughter, yet you vanish the second things get hard."

Jocelyn's bruised face was still throbbing.

And now, her chest started to ache, too.

It was as if Diana's sole purpose in life was to make her miserable.

"And that so-called 'specialist' you dug up?" Diana continued. "He doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. He's probably just as much of a fraud as you are."

If she couldn't take it anymore, she wasn't going to.

"Once he's better, if you're so paranoid about me wanting a cut of the inheritance, I will officially sever ties with the Evans family."

Diana gasped. "Sever ties?"

"Sever ties. Meaning, legally and permanently ending our mother-daughter relationship."

Diana was completely blindsided.

"You want to disown me?"

Jocelyn felt absolutely zero sadness or hesitation.

The Lowell family, the Evans family—she was done with all of them.

"Isn't that exactly what you want?"

Now, Diana was actually hesitating.

Yes, she was terrified Jocelyn was going to try and steal Jeremy's inheritance.

Which was exactly why she had been so desperate to marry her off.

She didn't care if the man loved Jocelyn or not, as long as she became someone else's problem and left the Evans family behind.